ALLENTOWN, NJ–On Saturday night, the second day of action concluded with three pairs of games at the 2011 Summer Prime Time Shootout starting at 7:00 PM and continuing into the 8:00 and 9:00 PM hours. The site saw action in four of the contests including St. Joseph’s victory over Ewing and Pennsbury’s wins over Franklin and Middle Township. William Allen of Pennsylvania defeated Monsginor McClancy of Brooklyn in a nightcap matchup.
Second Half Surge Propels Pennsbury Past Franklin, 55-43
Arrived with five minutes to go in the first half, and Franklin trailing by the score of 17-9. Â Pennsbury scored three of the next five points for a 20-11 lead before the Warriors scored 8 of the next 11 to pull within four at 23-19.Â
Franklin Township used its press to force a couple turnovers that led to scores at the 1:07 and 0:55 marks. Â Pennsbury netted a three pointer from the right wing to take a 23-15 advantage. Â After the Falcons made two free throws with 13.23 seconds left in the first half, Franklin responded with a layin as time was running down for a 25-21 Pennsbury lead at the half.
Over the first 51 seconds of the second half, Franklin started strong with a bucket in the paint, and then a transition layin to tie the score at 25-25 with 19:09 to go. Â Pennsbury responded with five unanswered points including a three at the 18:18 mark to take a 30-25 lead. Â The pace continued to go back and forth as Franklin rallied with four straight points including a steal for a layup to close the gap to 30-29 with 17:21 left.
A minute and a half later, after Pennsbury missed a shot, Franklin took the lead for the first time at 31-30 since our arrival by getting the rebound, and pushing the ball upcourt for a transition basket at the 15:43 mark. Â Pennsbury would take the lead back though with a bucket, and then drew a charge on Franklin at the 14:37 mark. Â The Falcons then added a putback at the 13:48 mark for a 34-31 lead.
The Warriors got going again by drawing a foul, and making two foul shots at the 12:50 mark for a 34-33 Falcons lead, but Franklin’s foe responded with a layup while being fouled at the 12:19 mark. Â Pennsbury missed the bonus free throw, but eventually scored on a putback following three offensive rebounds, and then swiped a steal for another score and a 40-33 lead at the 11:19 mark. Â Pennsbury made it an 8-0 run with a jumper from the left wing at the 10:47 mark for a 42-33 advantage.
The Falcons began to step up their defense a bit during this stretch.  Over a span of 6:27, Franklin was held without a field goal, and only had two points  after briefly taking the lead.  Trying to stem the tide, the Warriors called for time at the 9:16 mark, and finally got a basket after the stoppage with a three at the 8:57 mark that narrowed the gap to 42-36.  However, Pennsbury wouldn’t let Franklin get any closer.  Over the next 5:30, the Falcons went on an 8-2 run including a putaback at the 3:27 mark for a 50-38 lead.
From there, Pennsbury spread the floor, and took time off the clock. Â If the Falcons had an layup opportunity such as the one off a nice cut to the basket at the 1:45 mark for a 52-39 lead, they took it. Â Pennsbury went on to win by the final score of 55-43.
Trio Of DeCosey, Brix, And Long Lead Falcons Past Ewing, 47-31
After watching the 7:00 PM game between Franklin and Pennsbury, we hurried over to the East Gym to take in the 8:00 PM matchup between St. Joseph’s and Ewing. Â The Falcons wasted no time in getting on the board. Â Winning the tip, St. Joe’s drew first blood as Quenton DeCosey skip passed to Jimbo Long for a three pointer from the left wing at the 19:45 mark.
It was an omen of things to come as the Falcons jumped out to a 10-2 lead in less than five minutes, and held a 14-6 advantage when Ewing called for time  at the 11:03 mark.  Long and Danny Brix combined for 13 of the first 14 points.  Long netted a floater at the 17:34 mark, and after Brix made two free throws for a 7-0 lead, Long capped the early run with his second triple of the game from the left wing at the 15:03 mark.
Ewing didn’t get on the board until the 15:29 mark on a layup while the Falcons did much of their damage from the perimeter with three treys in the first nine or so minutes. Â Despite a solid effort defensively by the Blue Devils, which forced more on DeCosey and limited him to just a one of two showing from the foul line in the early going, St. Joseph’s was able to overcome that when Brix connected on a three from the top of the key at the 12:39 mark.
Following the Blue Devils timeout, and one of two from the line by Brix, Ewing tried to come to life with four unanswered points including a layup at the 7:30 mark to close the gap to 15-10. Â However, the Falcons wouldn’t let the Mercer County and Colonial Valley Conference school get any closer for the rest of the half. Â St. Joe’s went on an 8-0 run over a span of about five and a half minutes as Long sank another three, Brix swiped a steal for a layup, and DeCosey connected on his first field goal of the contest with a triple from the left wing for a 23-10 lead with about two minutes remaining in the half.
Frustration started to mount for Ewing, which was later called for a technical foul, and DeCosey cashed in by making one of two from the line for a 24-10 lead. Â After a Ewing score, the Falcons ended the half with a basket by Jalen Gilmore for a 26-12 lead at the intermission. Â The trio of Long, Brix, and DeCosey accounted for all but two of St. Joseph’s points as Long had game high with 11 points while Brix chipped in with 8 points and DeCosey added five points. Â The Falcons had five three pointers in the first half, and eight field goals overall while making five of eight from the foul line.
The second half saw St. Joe’s pick up right where it left off at the end of the first half with the first five points of the period before Ewing got on the board with a field goal at the 16:14 mark.  The Falcons scored right off the ensuing inbounds to start the half, got one of two from the line by DeCosey, and then two free throws by James Ziemba for a 31-12 lead.  After the Blue Devils scored, DeCosey banked in a shot in the paint  for a 33-14 advantage with 15:45 to go in the contest.
Starting to percolate as Walt “Clyde” Frazier would put it, DeCosey struck again for a three pointer from the left corner at the 13:52 mark for a 36-14 lead before Ewing got on the board with a score at the 13:31 mark. Â Brix, who had some nice feeds for scoring chances zipped a pass into Ziemba for a layup and a 38-16 lead. Â Ewing scored the next four points before Jake Dadika got on the board thanks to a goaltending violation by the Blue Devils on a layup attempt. Â Brix then added a triple of his own from the left corner for a 43-20 lead.
Ewing began to show some life after that with nine unanswered points including a three pointer that banked in from the right wing, and then a high flying alleyoop dunk as well as a breakaway two handed jam at the 3:59 mark to close the gap to 43-29. Â However, the Falcons were in cruise control as Dadika drove to the hoop for a layup, and a 45-29 lead with 3:30 remaining. Â Karim Awad wrapped up the 47-31 victory with a pair of free throws in the final 20 seconds.
The Falcons scoring ended up more balanced with 11 points each for Long, Brix, and DeCosey. Â Ziemba chipped in with six points while Dadika added four and Gilmore and Awad each contributed with two.
Additional articles will be forthcoming.